Runna

Runna operates a subscription mobile app (iOS and Android) that generates personalised running training plans for distances from couch-to-5K through 10K, half marathon and marathon up to multi-day ultramarathons, including a custom plan option covering 6-26 weeks and 5-50km. Plans are produced by the "Runna Engine" and are combined with coach-designed workouts, pace targets, and holistic support such as personalised strength, conditioning and mobility/Pilates sessions, running form guidance, nutrition advice and injury-management content. Additional plan types include Run Faster, Run Further, Run to Maintain, New to Running, Return to Running, Post-Race Recovery and Post-Injury plans.

The app syncs with wearables and third-party platforms including Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit and COROS, offers live Apple Watch coaching, smart treadmill control, Strava connection, workout insights and progress tracking. Subscribers also get access to an in-app community, support from the Runna coaching team, brand discounts, events and early feature access. Coaching staff named on the company site include co-founder and Head Coach Ben Parker (England Athletics and IRONMAN certified coach), British Olympic marathoner and Adidas athlete Steph Davis/Steph Kessell, senior MSK physiotherapist Aidan O'Flaherty, and England marathon runner Anya Culling. Runna also runs an online store selling apparel, a lululemon collection and subscription gift cards.

Founding story

Co-founders Dom Maskell and Ben Parker met as lacrosse teammates at the University of Southampton. Maskell went into consulting at McKinsey & Company while Parker qualified as a personal trainer and running coach and built an online coaching business in London with up to 40 clients. About three years after graduating, Maskell became Parker's coaching client while training for his first marathon, and, seeing that no app matched the personalisation Parker offered at a fraction of the cost, proposed automating and scaling the service. Working evenings for nine months, they built a minimal viable product under the name The Run Buddy: users paid £80 on the website, entered their running history, and an engine deployed to the cloud by ex-colleague Walter Holohan (later CTO) emailed a personalised PDF plan after a deliberate five-minute delay. After selling more than 1,000 plans, ultra-athlete Joshua Patterson invested and joined the team, funding Holohan's full-time hire and that of Katie Goble, who built marketing and partnerships.

Business model

Runna sells a direct-to-consumer subscription to its running-coaching app, positioned as a lower-cost alternative to one-to-one human coaching (the founders state a Runna subscription costs roughly a fifth or less of what private coaching cost). A free seven-day/first-week trial precedes paid monthly or annual billing, and free 'couch to 5k' plans are also offered. Ancillary revenue comes from an e-commerce store selling running apparel, a lululemon collection and subscription gift cards, alongside affiliate and partner relationships with race organisers and running platforms.

Recurring consumer subscriptions billed monthly or annually, priced at $19.99 per month or $119.99 per year in the United States (equivalent to $9.99 per month, marketed as a 50% saving), with localised pricing by market (for example £15.99/month and £99.99/year in the UK). Earlier revenue came from one-off plan purchases of £80 for a PDF marathon plan. The store sells 3-month, 6-month and 1-year subscription gift cards (£40.99, £69.99 and £99.99).

Traction

The founders describe having sold over 1,000 PDF plans before the app launched, then scaling to more than 50,000 subscribers by the time of the £5 million round and later to hundreds of thousands of users across more than 180 countries; the website states millions of people train with Runna. App-store review volumes stand at over 76,000 Apple ratings (4.9) and over 17,000 Google Play ratings (4.7). The company has partnership deals with major races and running platforms and, per its founders, exponential growth without disclosing exact figures.

Latest developments

In April 2025 news broke that Runna was being acquired by Strava, with the founders confirming the transaction was expected to complete in the following months and stating Runna would continue as an independent team and product, with Strava investing in headcount and new features and additional integrations planned (including sign-in with Strava). Strava CEO Michael Martin framed the deal as complementary to Strava's running business, noting nearly one billion runs were recorded on Strava in 2024. Product roadmap priorities described by the founders include treadmill syncing, real-time adaptation of plans and expansion of the AI team.